Saddle



Patented Sept. 30,1930

JAMES V1. RATIGAM or Los Aiaofiatns,` CALIFORNIA SADDLE Application filed October 8, 17928. Seral- No. 311,147.

Thisginvention relates to saddles of the type used, lfor example, tosupport the grip "used on a. polish'rrod in the pumping ofpoil wells.

Heretofore, saddles wereof solid construc-V tion with a verticalbore throughfwhich the p'olish rod projected, the grip onthe'polish rodseating upon the upper face of the saddle.

`With this prior construction ofsaddle .it was necessary' to releasethe grip from the polish rod, support the polish rod from'a point beneath the saddle by a suitable clamp and then lift the saddle o of the polish rod, these operations being necessarywhen it'was desired to disconnect the walking beam from the polishA rod for pullingthe pumpv or for any other purpose that required the polish rod to be removed.

One of the objects of' this invention is to eliminate some of the above mentioned operations, thus expediting the connecting and disconnecting of the polishrodwiththe walking beam.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the subjoined detailed description.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure 1. is a side elevation of a saddle constructed in accordance with the provisions of this invention,cable socket eyes, a polish rod and a polish rod grip being also indicated in broken lines.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the saddle shown in Figure 1. Y

Figure 3 is a vertical section on the line indicated by 3 3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, there is.V provided a vertically slotted body 6, the slotbeing indicated at 7. `The slot 7 is of a width to accommodate the polish rod which is indicated at A.

At its opposite ends the body 6, which is in the form of a cross bar,is provided with trunnions 8 which are circular in cross section so that said trunnions may be received within cable socket eyes which are indicatedV at B in Figure 1, said socket eyes constituting no portion of the present invention. Any suit! able devices as, for eXample',those indicated at I 9, may be used for preventing accidental disengagement of the eyes B with the trunnions.

The devices 9 illustrated constitute no portion of the present invention, but are the subject matter of my copending application filed October 3, 1928, Serial No. 310,118.

The front face 10, through which slot 7 opens, is substantially flat and fitting there-- against is a shiftably mounted gate 11 which,

when the same is in closed position,'clcses the l upper `portion of the slot 7 In this instance,`

the gate' 11 is pivotally mounted, the pivot 12 "thereof being a capscrew that is screwed into the'body 6 to one side of the slot 7. The gate 11 may be opened by swinging it upwardly and to the left in Figure 1 and, when'the gate is closed, the upper iiat yfacel?) thereof is Hush withr'the upperlat face 14 of the body. The

grip C on the polish rodfA is adapted to seat -on thefaces 13, 14 so that the saddlerwill supi portf said grip. When Ysaid grip is so supported, it prevents the gate 11 fromfaccidentally opening. i When'the gate `11is closed, it seats upon a pair of shoulders 14', one on each side of the slot 7.', said shouldersfbeing horizontal and projecting from the front of the body. The

- shoulders 14 areilat as is alsotheiunderface of the gate where it rests upon said shoulders.

Gravity, alone, may be dependedupon to hold thegate 11 closed, in event of the grip unseating from the saddle, but it is preferable to provide a latchfor positively holding the gate closed,ifor the reason that if the sucker rods should break,l thus; considerably diminishing the load von the 'engine' th atis operating the'. 4pump-,tithe down lstrokes ot the saddle *mightbecome'so' rapid that the grip C would notffollowand there would thus be consider- .which projects vfrom the front face of the body KLS 6 and against which one end of the spring 19 rests, the opposite end or" said spring engaging that wall of the recess 18 that lies adjacent to the gate. Thus, the spring 19 urges the latch member 15 toward the gate or to the left in Figure l, and said gate is provided with a shoulder 2l that projects beneath the latch member l5 when said latch member is in the latching position shown in Figure 1. Thus, when the latch member is in the latching position, it overhangs the shoulder 21 so as to prevent upward swinging of the gate from closed position into open posit-ion. The pivot 17 ailiords one way ot' mounting the latch member so that said latch member will be in sliding relation with the body 6. The latch member. well as the gate, operates in a vertical plane.

It will be clear from the foregoing that the invention operates as follows:

Assuming that the parts are in the positions shown in Figure 1 and that the polish rod is in the slot 7 and that the polish rod grip, clamped on said rod, rests upon the saddle, to release the polish rod from the saddle, which, through the eyes B and the cables, not shown, is connected with the beam hanger, not shown, the polish rod will be raised by any suitable tackle suiiiciently hight to lift the grip C well above the saddle and the latch member 16 will then be thrust to the right in Figure 1, thus releasing the gate, and the gate will be swung upwardly and to the lett in Figure 1. The tackle supporting the polish rod will then be operated to move the polish rod out of the slot 7.

To replace the polish rod in the saddle, it is only necessary to swing said polish rod into the slot and then swing the gate* closed. While the gate is being closed, the gate 1-1 will thrust against the sloping edge 22 of the latch member, thus swinging the latch member to the right until the shoulder 21 passes below the level of the bottom edge of the latch member, whereupon said latch member will be moved by the spring 19 into its latching position over the shoulder 21.

I claim:

1. A saddle comprising a member provided with a vertical slot in its frontface, a member mounted to slide to and from closed position in front of said slot, a shoulder on the first mentioned member for the second mentioned member to rest on when'in closed position, a second shoulder on one of the members, and a latch member pivoted at its upper end to one of the members in position to normally overhang the second shoulder.

2. A saddle comprising a cross bar provided with a vertical slot in its front face and with shoulders on opposite sides of the slot, a gate pivoted to the cross bar to swing in a vertical plane to and from closed position in front of the slot and resting on the shoulders, the gate provided with a shoulder, and a latch member pivoted to the cross bar to swing in a vertical plane to and from a latching position overhanging the shoulder on the gate.

3. A saddle comprising a cross bar provided with a vertical slot in its front face and with shoulders on opposite sides of the slot, a gate pivoted to the cross bar to swing in a vertical plane to and from closed position in front ot the slot and resting on the shoulders,

the gate provided with a shoulder, a latch member pivoted to the cross bar to swing in a vertical plane to and trom a latching position overhanging the shoulder on the gate, and a spring yieldingly holding the latch member in the latching position.

4. A saddle comprising a. member provided with a vertical slot in its front face, another member movably connected with the irst mentioned member opera-ble in a vertical plane to and from closed position in front of said slot, a shoulder on the first mentioned member Jfor the second mentioned member to rest on when closed, a second shoulder on one of the members, and a latch member pivoted to the member not provided with the second shoulder, said latch member and second shoulder being normally in superposed relation so as to prevent movement of the second mentioned member away from its closed position.

Signed at Los Angeles, California, this 24th day of September, 1928.

l JAMES P. RATIGAN. 

